Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Aristotle... I think he was on to something!

“Aristotle held that there are three forms of happiness. The first form of happiness is a life of pleasure and enjoyment. The second form of happiness is a life as a free and responsible citizen. The third form of happiness is a life as thinking and philosopher. Aristotle then emphasized that all three criteria must be present at the same time for man to find happiness and fulfillment. He rejected all forms of imbalance. Had he lived today he might have said that a person who only develops his body lives a life that is just as unbalanced as someone who only uses his head. Both extremes are an expression of a warped way of life.” Sophie’s World

Guilty as charged. As I reflect on the past few months of this semester here at school, the truth in Aristotle’s statement is profound. I often find myself on one side of the extremist spectrum or the other. Sometimes, my focus is personal pleasure, other times it is fraudulent intellectualism; other times I thrive on emotional stimulation while other times I attempt a rational understanding of life. Not to mention that in the midst of all theses things I often neglect social responsibilities. Awwww life, it’s a trip!

I know that nobody reads this blog at the moment, but there is some great conversation going on over at liquidthinking.org so you should check it out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I read them now.